Reading: Lets Take the Long Way home by Gail Caldwell

I just finished Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell - and let me warn you: it's wonderful and heartbreaking. This is the story of Gail Caldwell and her dear friend and fellow writer Caroline Knapp (Drinking: A Love Story) who died tragically of lung cancer.  She describes their one-of-a-kind and once-in-a-lifetime friendship with such honesty and accuracy that anyone who's ever had a best friend will sigh and nod, and grieve alongside her. 
This book got me thinking about friends. I tried not to imagine facing a cancer diagnosis alongside my own dearest girls. I remembered those moments in my life where I leaned hardest on my friends, and when they carried me through.  It is a risk to bond so deeply, to join your lives and hearts together so that every conversation feels like a continuation of the last.  It is hard to imagine surviving a loss like this one, it seems that no one should have to, and yet, some do.
I wish I could write a tribute to my friends as beautiful as this one, but since I don't have that kind of talent - I think I'll finish up here and make a few phone calls. Tell some girls how much I love them. How grateful I am for them.
Now, go read this book (bring kleenex). Then hug your friends.